abu ghraib, the scenes of the iconic image from abu ghraib, those things, they get into your mind. they bring everything together and make it coherent. and so we have these sophisticated arguments and debates about american public diplomacy, about strategy and the like. yet if the first thing that comes to your mind when an american soldier or a diplomat comes and knocks on your door is a man in a hood from abu ghraib or a christian pastor, what appears to be an american christian burning korans, if that's the first image in your mind, you're not going to listen to anything else especially if it confirms what many people have already been saying for years. when it fits that narrative of the u.s. being at war with islam. >> ifill: how do you battle that misperception? not only do we have misperceptions about whether muslims are willing to renounce violence but they have the misperceptions about the american psyche. >> ask michael bloomberg. the mayor of new york with his intervention and the debate about the ground zero mosque, that sparked more conversations and more positive discu